Dr. Saturday

The Dr. Saturday 2012 college football awards

College football hands out most of its awards this week. There's the show tonight to present most of the awards, and then on Saturday is the Heisman Trophy presentation, which should be historic because it's likely a freshman will win for the first time.

In the spirit of the awards season, we at Dr. Saturday (Frank Schwab and Graham Watson) are handing out some hardware of our own:

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR Schwab: Texas A&M QB Johnny Manziel
The case for Jordan Lynch of Northern Illinois is compelling. He set a FBS record for rushing yards by a quarterback and his passing stats are great too. But, Manziel put up ridiculous numbers in the toughest league in college football. His performance at Texas A&M is a signature moment of the season, and he is the pick.

Watson: Manziel
It's hard to find a guy who wowed college football more than this redshirt freshman. He came out of nowhere and made Texas A&M a force in a new league with a new offense and a new coaching staff. That's a crazy feat.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Schwab: Notre Dame LB Manti Te'o
Notre Dame allowed 10 touchdowns in 12 games. Te'o wasn't the only reason, but he was the main one. He has incredible instincts in the running game, and his seven interceptions shows his value against the pass. Not to mention, his leadership has been instrumental during a 12-0 season.

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(USA Today Sports Images)

Watson: Georgia LB Jarvis Jones
Te'o gets all the love, but Jones had a spectacular season. He had 77 tackles, led the nation with 20.5 tackles for loss and was third nationally with 1.14 sacks per game and he did that playing just 11 games. He had three tackles for loss and two sacks against Alabama in the SEC title game.

Schwab: Texas A&M's Kevin Sumlin
Sumlin didn't have an easy chore. He was coming into a new job, in a new conference, not having much scouting information on most teams he was scheduled to play. The inverse is true — the SEC didn't know much about him and his fast-break offense, either — but nonetheless, the results were shocking. Texas A&M went 10-2 and was the only team all year to beat Alabama. Sumlin seems like he'll have the Aggies, which were picked to finish fifth in the seven-team SEC West, in the national title hunt next year.

Watson: Penn State's Bill O'Brien
Not sure a new coach has ever come into a program facing the circumstances that O'Brien faced at Penn State. And after a rocky start, which included the loss of some key players to other schools, the Nittany Lions managed to finish the season 8-4 and second in the Big Ten Leaders Division. Far better than anyone could have imagined.

GAME OF THE YEAR
Schwab: Alabama vs. Georgia, SEC Championship Game, Dec. 1
The stakes were an SEC championship and a spot in the BCS Championship Game, and level of play from these two teams was tremendous. Gurley. Ogletree. Yeldon. Milliner. Jarvis Jones. Barrett Jones. Players from both sides will be found in the first round of the NFL Draft for years to come. And the game itself was heartstopping. A.J. McCarron's 45-yard touchdown pass to Amari Cooper with 3:15 left gave Alabama a 32-28 lead, and Georgia's Aaron Murray led a fantastic drive that fell just a few yards short as time ran out.

Watson: Alabama vs. LSU, Nov. 3
There were a lot of great games this season, but the rematch of last year's national championship lived up to its billing. LSU had the upset — and a possible move into national title contention — in its grasp and let it slip away on what was essentially last play of the game.

Schwab: Notre Dame
When we all thought Notre Dame's days as a national powerhouse were done - it had been almost 20 years, after all - the Irish went from unranked in the preseason to No. 1 by the time the regular season was done.

Watson: Oregon State
The Beavers had the greatest turnaround of the season going from 3-9 a year ago (and coach Mike Riley on the hot seat) to 9-3 and challenging for a BCS bowl. Guess promises of In-N-Out Burger will inspire a team.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT
Schwab: Southern Mississippi
Picking USC is the way to go, but just to spread the wealth, how about Southern Miss? From 12-2 in 2011 and finishing 20th in the final AP poll to an 0-12 debacle that left Ellis Johnson fired after just one season. That's not good.

Watson: USC
The Trojans started the season No. 1 in the AP poll with a Heisman favorite at quarterback and ended it unranked with their quarterback's arm in a sling. Not sure many teams have seen their fortunes turn that quickly.

MOST TIMELY FIRINGSchwab: Gene Chizik, Auburn
National title to his credit or not, the time had come for Chizik to go. The post-firing reports about lack of discipline in the program probably didn't cause any second guessing, either. And Auburn quickly moved to make the obvious hire, scooping up its former offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn.

Watson: Derek Dooley, Tennessee
Dooley struggled from the moment he got to Tennessee and never lived up to expectations. He was 15-21 in three seasons and had just four conference wins in that span. The Vols missed a bowl for the second season in a row.

WORST FIRING
Schwab: John L. Smith, Arkansas

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(USA Today Sports Images)

Just kidding, it was easily Mario Cristobal at Florida International. Just wanted to make sure you were paying attention.

Watson: Mario Cristobal, Florida International
What was Florida International thinking? Cristobal built the Golden Panthers' program, put it on the map and he even stayed out of loyalty last year despite being courted by many programs around the country. FIU was 3-9 this season and apparently that was enough for the university to show him the door.

FIRING NOBODY NOTICED
Schwab: Danny Hope, Purdue
Purdue has dipped a long way from the days of Drew Brees and Joe Tiller. Hope toiled mostly in obscurity as he compiled an underwhelming 22-27 record in four seasons before being let go.

Watson: Bill Cubit, Western Michigan
Who? Right. Cubit spent eight seasons at Western Michigan, was 51-47, but a 4-8 campaign this year doomed him. His WMU career was pretty uneventful. He never finished first in the MAC's West Division and lost each of the team's three bowl appearances.

BEST STORY
Schwab: Northern Illinois crashes the party
The anger (from some, anyway) about Northern Illinois' inclusion into the BCS is strange. Whatever happened to appreciating a good underdog story? And before we completely dismiss NIU's chances in the Orange Bowl, keep in mind that this is a very good team, and BCS gate crashers like Boise State and Utah have done quite well in the big-stage bowls after being given no chance.

Watson: The legend of Johnny Football
Johnny Manziel is a comeback tale of sorts. Prior to the season starting, he was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct by fighting, failure to identify and having a fake driver's license. He also took a mugshot without his shirt, which made him a joke for a week. The incident nearly cost him his starting role. Five months later, he could be the first freshman to with the Heisman Trophy.

Honorable mention: Outpouring of support for Marcus Lattimore after his injury, Texas running the Wishbone on the first play to honor Darrell Royal, Collin Klein leading Kansas State to a 10-0 start, Penn State's eight-win season, Ohio State's perfect season, Manti Te'o coping with the deaths of his girlfriend and grandmother, Barry Alvarez announcing he will coach Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl.

BEST SPECIAL UNIFORMS
Schwab: Air Force

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(USA Today Sports Images)

Adding the black and silver to Air Force's normal blue bolt on the helmet and numbers on the jerseys really stood out. The pattern on the jerseys was actually a series of stealth bombers, and the jerseys had "B-2 SPIRIT" or "F-22 RAPTOR" on the back.

Watson: Army

Service academies sweep this award. If you haven't seen Army's uniforms for this weekend's game against Navy, you're in for a treat. They are fantastic. They are a tribute to World War II and the Battle of the Bulge, and feature a historical map on the sleeves, in the numbers, on the helmet stripe and in the shoes. They are by far the coolest uniforms of the season.

Years from now, when younger Notre Dame fans watch highlights of the magical 2012 season, they're sure to get to the Irish's win over Miami and think, "What in the heck is Notre Dame wearing?"

Watson: Virginia Tech

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(USA Today Sports Images)

The Hokies came out with two different turkey helmets this season and both were kind of fowl (see what I did there?). One version was white with turkey feet on it and the other was maroon with a picture of a turkey. Both were two of the lamer helmets we saw this season.